Woman turns a bedbug infestation into business

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After a frustrating battle with bedbugs, Gilbert, AZ woman has come up with a chemical formula that gets rid of the critters, and has started a business.

Woman turns a bedbug infestation into business

After a frustrating battle with bedbugs, Gilbert, AZ woman has come up with a chemical formula that gets rid of the critters, and has started a business.

Gilbert, Ariz. (KPHO) — After buying a bed from off of Craigslist, Chenoa Miner noticed she and her family members were waking up with bite marks all over their bodies. Miner soon found out her home was infested with bed bugs.

“You have got to get them away from you. You’re dinner,” explained Miner, referring to the vicious creepy crawlers.

“You feel like there is no escape.”

Miner at first felt helpless. She said she could not afford professional pest service, which can cost thousands of dollars. Instead she turned to the internet for help.

“I would always walk away from the internet discouraged,” recalled Miner. “I would never be able to get rid of (the bedbugs). It’s so extreme all the measures you would have to take.”

Miner said some of those tips includes ripping out all the carpet in a home. Others people suggested to burn furniture that was infested. Miner said it simply became overwhelming.

“I just felt, like I shouldn’t even be a mom. Some people I read even get suicidal over it. I never got suicidal over it, but I could see where they would,” she said.

However, Miner kept trying out different, less intense methods of getting rid of her bed bug infestation. After a lot of trial and error, she put together the perfect solution. By using a combination of steaming problem areas, and treating them with a mixture made of Everclear liquor, soap and another special ingredient, Miner was able to get rid of the tiny critters.

“We ended up treating the whole house, and I killed over 50 (bedbugs) every few hours. I’d go (searching) and I would squish them right on the wall. There was blood marks just splattered on the wall, and it was so satisfying,” she said.

Though Miner wanted to keep her now-dead housemates a secret, a friend called her and told her about her grandmother’s similar infestation.

“I told her, ‘I have a confession. I can help your grandma.'”

After helping her friend, Miner started a business right from her Gilbert home. She now sells her secret recipe for killing bed bugs, and posts how-to videos on her site, MyBedBugStory.com.

Right now, she only advertises by word-of-mouth, and with stickers on the back of friends’ cars. Miner said her business has not been profitable, but she considers it a success if she’s able to help other families who are suffering through similar infestations.

“I am convinced that you know someone with bedbugs and you don’t know it,” said Miner.

“I do want to get the message out, because I know how horrible it is. I know how sad it is.”